


Anitober 2020

by owlgal



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Angst, Family Feels, Fluff, Flying, Introspection, Other, Shorts, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:35:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27592823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlgal/pseuds/owlgal
Summary: A collection of microfiction I wrote for the Anitober prompts by the lovely people over at the Animorphs Anonymous podcast.
Relationships: Jake Berenson & Tom Berenson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2
Collections: Animorphs Anon Fics





	Anitober 2020

1\. Crash  
He soared high, wings spread to catch and shape the wind and bend it to his will. Heat rose from below, lifting him in ever higher circles. The sky, the wind, the world - it was all his. A feather turned, and then another, and he was diving towards the ground, crashing through clouds, air rushing past beak and eyes and talons and wings tucked back, rushing towards the stony ground and the small heart that beat so softly. Closer and closer he dove, waiting for the perfect moment. Wings snapped out to cup the air, talons extended to- CATCH!

2\. Infestation  
I dreamed. I dreamed my hands were mine, my feet were mine, my voice was mine. I dreamed I was alone. I dreamed I was free. I dreamed.

3\. Identity  
Killer. Monster. The girl who lies awake at night, crying until she can’t cry anymore. The girl who savors the savage joy of cracking bone and tearing flesh. A gymnast, a blond who can never pass up a sale, Xena: Warrior Princess. The girl who loves… who loves a bird that is only sometimes a boy. The girl who is only sometimes a girl, and other times a raging beast. The girl who loves her family beyond reason. The girl who sacrifices everything. Who am I? Murderer. I'm a murderer.

4\. Reaching Out  
She fell. She fell and fell and as she fell I watched the hatred on her face bleed away. She reached her hand up towards me and all I saw was pain and fear and betrayal and I couldn’t see the enemy. All I saw was my mother tumbling down the mountain and her body crunching through the trees onto the rock below and all I knew was that I had pushed her. And she knew it was me.

5\. Family  
"Marco, give me the controller."  
"Shove off Rachel, I've almost got this guy!  
"Ax, is that the last piece of supreme? I only got one!"  
"Pizza has lots and lots and lots of grease. And cheeeeeeessssssse."  
"Ok, but I haven't had pizza in three weeks and-"  
"Here Tobias, he didn't find the skittles."  
"Marco! You're supposed to have my back in here!"  
"What can I say man, he snuck up behind me.”  
“Here Cassie, I’ll show you how to play.”  
“Give me. The controller. Now.”  
“Whatever. Hey Ax, did you eat all the pizza?”  
“Yes.”

6\. Omnipotence  
Omnipotence. It’s a word that means unlimited power. Like, unlimited power. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Marco, that’s a pretty big word for such a beautiful man. Well, even though I’m one of the hottest and most popular guys in school, and even though just about every girl in my neighborhood is fawning over me 24/7, I occasionally read books. Even some big ones.  
Now, the thing about omnipotence is that everyone wants power. We’ve all thought about what we would change if we were God. You know, clean up the oceans, make Aaliyah fall madly in love with me, world peace or whatever. But nobody ever thinks about the responsibility.  
That’s another big word, responsibility. I’ve been running away from that one my whole life, until I found out I was one of only six kids on the whole planet who had the grit, powers, and gorgeous looks needed to save the world from an alien invasion.  
Right, aliens. I started this one all wrong, didn’t I? Let’s try again.  
My name is Marco, and I’m an Animorph. 

7\. Home  
My human friends have a saying: home is where the heart is. They do not mean this literally, as I first thought, but in the metaphorical sense that the place you long to be is the place you can call home. There is a faraway place I long to be, a place I used to know was home. But some days it feels like everything I love is here. I do not know which one is home. I do not think I could choose. Fortunately, I have two hearts.

9\. Deceit  
"I want to fight."  
I don't know why the words surprised me. Maybe it was because I'd spent so long watching him suck up to my parents, pretending to be the perfect son, the goofy kid they had raised. Maybe it was that, despite all the pain and the tears and the number of times we had said "oh my god, I can't believe it's really you!" In the last few minutes, I was still used to hearing everything he said as a lie.  
"Please, Jake."  
He looked down at his hands. He was curling his fingers one by one, every now and then looking surprised that he could.  
"I can't just stand by and by and let what happened to me happen to anyone else. I have to fight!"  
I looked away. Part of me wanted to say yes, we needed all the help we could get. Part of me wanted to say no, that I'd just gotten him back, that I would never put him in danger again.  
"I was watching you these last few days," he said. "You've become such a good leader. And your team; Rachel and Marco I get, but how did you convince Cassie to fight like that?"  
I thought about how my brother had spent so long trapped inside his own body, enslaved by a creature without pity. I thought about my team.  
"Well, I just wanted to say I'm proud of you, little bro. Really proud."  
I thought about how I was the one the others looked to for leadership, every single time. How Rachel always had to be the most angry, the most willing to kill. Cassie was the only one who knew how to get the others to share their pain. We relied on Marco to make the plans and understand the enemy, and on Ax to know what to do with every piece of alien tech we came across. I thought about how Tobias was the only one who'd had his whole life, his whole family, stripped away from him.  
I finally spoke up just before Tom could walk away.  
"Let's go see Cassie."  
"Cassie?"  
"You'll need to be able to morph if you want to be on the team. She's the one with the box." 

10\. Decision  
The boy whose biggest problem was mastering a jump shot. The girl who used to get her highs from landing a jump on the balance beam. The boy from another world, trying to live up to a legend. The girl who would go from wrangling squirrels to counseling soldiers. The boy whose world had already shattered. The son whose father left so long ago. It was time to give them his mission. The warrior knew he would be proud of them all.


End file.
